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From: Inbox, [69.73.244.200]
Subject: Scrap the School Books Programme before school re-opens
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I was driving down the Uriah Butler Highway (UBH) in Trinidad last week and I had an epiphany. On the radio was Dr. Tim Gopeesingh, Minister of Education of Trinidad and Tobago, announcing a new program for education in Trinidad and Tobago whereby in essence the government would provide a laptop computer for every secondary school student. Tim Gopeesingh is an accomplished medical doctor in Trinidad but more importantly he has spent several years of his life studying Management, Marketing, Business and Computer Information Technology. I recall asking Tim where did he find the time to do all that he does and still maintain a medical practice and he looked at me and said, “God has been good to me. He has blessed me with health and strength and opportunity and I do not waste time.” I have not studied the details of Tim’s plan before putting forward my observations regarding our own situation in Grenada (deliberately). However here is what hit me like Saul on the road to Jericho: The school books program as currently run by the Ministry of Education in Grenada must be scrapped immediately. The program as is currently run does not meet the objectives of the students, nor the parents, nor the educators. Among the several reasons for the failure are the following: i. The government does not provide the full complements of school books for the students; ii. The books are given back to the government at the end of each school year thus there is no institutional memory provided to the home; iii. Given the plethora of rules and regulations and the cumbersome administration of the program including strict conditionalities regarding the state and condition of the returned books it is simply easier for most persons to purchase their own books. iv. Available technology has rendered these matters obsolete. In its place I propose the following to commence in September 2010 with the opening of the new school term. 1. Issue a laptop to all secondary school students. 2. Issue a Netbook or an Ipad or a kindle to all primary school students. 3. Place all books on a central database for access to schools via the schools intranet 4. Scrap the school books program. I can hear the immediate reaction to my proposal: a. Too expensive b. Abuse of the equipment a. Too Expensive Consider the cost of books currently. Also consider the relief on the on the rainforest resources and global warming by having the power to print only the necessary sections of books from your Laptop or Kindle as required from time to time. Further, I challenge you to consider that currently most children own Nintendo and Wii consoles and games or even cellular phones that are more expensive than any of the equipment mentioned above. I am sure that a deal with any computer manufacturer will allow government the quantities required such that a Laptop computer or Notebook will be provided at a cost of less than EC$1,000 per student and a Netbook or Kindle would be provided at under $800. Ironically the Kindle reminds me the slate we used to use in primary school. Yes, I was in town when the slate was around. b. Abuse of the equipment Abuse of the equipment meaning that the technology may be used for a purpose other than it was intended for. Systems will have to be put in place to prevent and detect abuse of the equipment. However, I am offering a reward to anyone who comes up with an abuse that can only be performed under this new regime and is not an existing abuse. By the way what is the current status of the CKLN project? Garvey Louison FCCA Chartered Certified Accountant |
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